Wings of Hope
by Hypo Prower
Summary: When Link gets a distress call from Dragon Roost Island, he goes to Headstone Isle to investigate what happened to Medli. However, as he tries his best to keep her safe, he realizes that an even greater danger is arising...LinkxMedli.
1. Distress Message from Dragon Roost

**A/N: Hey, ANOTHER new Legend of Zelda story! Awesome! **

**LinkxMedli this time, this is just something I started on a whim, so let's see how far it goes! I don't own Legend of Zelda, obviously.**

* * *

The wind blowing over the Great Sea ruffled Link's messy blonde hair. He was happy to be out on the ocean once more. He had always felt a sense of belonging on the salty ocean…like he was always meant to sail out here…

The King of Red Lions, Link's trusty boat, had a look of discomfort written on his wooden face. Link peeked over King's head and peered at his expression. "What's the matter, King?"

"I don't think we should be wasting so much time," King explained, shifting his eyes at Link and back at the ocean. Link frowned and sat down, thinking about his words.

It was true. It was time to prepare for the final battle against Gannon. The world had to return to peace once more, and Zelda was waiting on him to fight with her. However, there were certain things that had to be done before Link went out and risked his life in battle.

One of those things was say good bye to Medli, his bird friend from Dragon Roost Island.

Medli, however, was deep inside the Earth temple, playing her harp so that the Master Sword would retain its power to defeat Gannon. Link didn't want to make his way all the way down to the bottom of the temple, so he was headed to Dragon Roost Island to deliver a message for her.

Dragon Roost Island was in sight on the horizon. Link grinned when he saw the familiar outline of the island. "Alright, King, there it is," he pointed out.

King rolled his eyes. "I'm aware."

"Yeah, yeah," Link retorted bitterly, a bit tired of his boat's sarcasm. "Look, I'll just be 15 minutes at tops, alright? Then we're headed straight for the Tower of the Gods so we can go to Hyrule."

"It's about time," King replied as he dumped his passenger off at the volcanic island. "Just be quick about it, OK? We don't have…"

"Any time to lose, I KNOW," Link sighed, finishing King's sentence for him and running off to the inside of Dragon Roost Island.

* * *

After making his way to the upper balcony of the island, Link was headed for the inner chamber, where the mailmen known as the Rito made their abode. Link had befriended not only all the Rito, but the Chieftain himself.

Today, however, he didn't want to talk to the Chief. He only wanted to talk to one particular person, the youngest Rito on the island. That person was Komali, Medli's closest friend.

Link made his way into the bottom floor of the inner chamber of Dragon Roost, then took a right to turn down a long hallway. At the end of the hallway was the door to Komali's bedroom, which is where he spent most of his time.

It was rather odd that most of the Rito weren't gathered in the main room of the chamber, but Link didn't think much of it as he rapped three times on Komali's bedroom door. He waited a moment before the young Rito himself opened the door, eyes turning bright whenever he saw Link.

"Hey dude!" Komali waved his hand excitingly. "How's it going? What brings you here, stranger?"

Link smiled at the prince. "Ah, it's going alright I guess, about to fight a super demi-god that could potentially kill me, that's all," he said, his smile gradually fading as he finished his sentence.

Komali, however, was laughing. "Ah, you're such a kidder," he snickered. He opened his wide amber eyes. "So, why did you come to see me?"

"I need to give a message to Medli," Link replied, all seriousness returning. "It's really important. You think you could deliver it for me when she comes back?"

There was silence for a moment, puzzlement and disappointment written on Komali's face. "Listen, Link…they haven't told you yet, have they?"

Link raised one of his onyx eyebrows. "Haven't told me what?"

"You know how Medli was in the Earth temple, playing her harp so she could give power to your sword?" The Rito asked, fidgeting with his wing tip.

"Uhh, yeah," Link answered, scratching the back of his head under his green cap. "What about it?"

"The Earth temple was…attacked, and…"

Link was gone before Komali could even finish his sentence.

* * *

"WHAT'S GOING ON WITH MEDLI?!"

Link burst into the meeting room, where all the Rito were gathered. Everyone was there, save for the volunteer mail sorter that was at the mail cabinet.

One of the Rito's eyes lit up. "Link?"

The Chief, however, was not amused. "Link, what are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here?" the green-clothed boy demanded, slamming both his hands on the meeting table. "The Earth Temple got ATTACKED! Medli's in there!"

The Chieftain sighed and stood up. "Look, I know, alright?" he replied. "This is hard on all of us. There's nothing we can do…"

Link's eyes were ablaze with fury. "What do you mean, you can't do anything?! You could at least go down there and see if she's OK!"

"It's too dangerous to go down there when it's just been attacked," another Rito put in, trying to keep a calm voice. "We've already discussed this a thousand times. The island is susceptible to collapsing if the foundation isn't secure, and…"

"And Medli's in there!" Link angrily spun around and stormed out. "Fine! If her so called 'tribe' won't do anything to help her, then I will!"

The Rito gathered at the table all had shock written upon their faces as the boy stomped out of the room. "Is he going to be OK?" one of them asked the Chief.

He sighed. "I don't know," he admitted. "Is there anything we can do to stop him, though?"

* * *

King was shaken violently as Link hopped into his tow. He gruffly and swiftly attached the sail to the rod and whipped out his Wind Waker to call upon a cyclone.

"What's going on?" the ancient boat demanded, eyeing Link closely. "Is something wrong with the Rito?"

"No, something's wrong with Medli!" Link conducted the Ballad of Gales and marked on his sea chart where he wanted to be warped to. "The Earth Temple has been attacked, and the Rito are too chicken to go and see if she's alright!"

King muttered something before speaking more clearly. "I know that this is important, but Gannon…"

"Gannon-shmannon," the blonde haired hero said in a hurried tone as a cyclone picked them up. "We have to go help Medli, and now!"

The red boat bit back his reply. Link wouldn't be focused on defeating Gannon if he knew one of his friends was in danger. So, as the cyclone warped them to Outset Island, and Link plotted a course for the Earth Temple, he didn't say a word.

Perhaps Medli's safety was the top priority here after all.

* * *

**Next chapter we'll get to see what's happened to Medli...please look forward to it! Mind reviewing and tell me what you think, too?**


	2. Saving Medli

**A/N: I feel very good about this chapter! I think that I was very descriptive with it. I even went back and played through the Earth Temple on the game to get all the details right. I hope it sounds OK!**

**Link, Medli, King belong to Nintendo.**

* * *

Link hopped off of King and set his feet on the sandy shores of Stonewatcher Island, not even pausing to look back. King contemplated calling after him, but he decided against it. By the desperation in his race to enter the island's temple, he could tell that nothing was going to stop him.

After using his Deku Leaf to sail across the gap at the temple's entrance, Link entered the doorway to the next chamber. He was in awe of what had happened whenever he witnessed the scene.

The giant pillars that stood on either side of the next exit had collapsed. The stairway that was usually occupied by the Moblins had also collapsed, and the limp corpses of the Moblins were trapped underneath the rubble.

To put it simply, the place was in shambles.

"Holy…!" Link edged backwards in shock. His knees felt weak and his pupils had dilated to their capacity. There was no time to lose. He had to find Medli.

Forgetting everything else, Link charged ahead to the door. After moving some of the rock out from in front of it, he was finally able to slide open the door. The next chamber wasn't much better than the last, the ChuChus that usually hang on the ceiling had been reduced to puddles upon the floor.

Link frowned and avoided stepping in their remains and made his way into the next room. And the next. Finally, the hero reached the main chamber of the Earth Temple, where the giant sun had once hung. Link had memories of he and Medli using their reflecting accessories to shine light upon the sun and clear away the poisonous fog that lingered on the floor beneath it, but their efforts had been wasted. The sun was now in pieces upon the floor, giant cracks protruding beneath it.

The bad thing about this was that now that the room had become unlit, the fog had returned. Gulping in some air, Link plowed through the rummage and was able to barely fit through a crevice in the rummage to wriggle his way through the next door.

"This is terrible," Link muttered to himself upon examination of another chamber in the temple. However, he knew that he was getting close to the end of the temple, which is where Medli lay. After making his way through some more rubble, he finally made his way to the hallway that led to correct room.

Link nearly choked whenever he saw the hallway. Instead of the tombs lining the hallway, filled with Redeads, there was nothing but pure chaos. This must have been the worst room so far. Link climbed on top of the giant pile of fallen rock and tried to make his way down the hall, but there was so much damage that he didn't know if he could navigate or not.

After a couple minutes of trekking over the destruction, he had finally found the door. There was no way he could open it, though, due to it being completely blocked off. Link frowned and clenched his teeth together. He couldn't accept defeat now! Not when he was so close to his friend!

He abruptly had an idea. Taking out a bomb, Link created a spark on the fuse with the fallen rock and the steel end of an arrow and dropped it near the rubble blocking the door. Then, in an attempt to scramble away, he spun around and ran…smack dab into another fallen stone.

Regardless, the blast didn't reach him, and the fallen slab in front of the door had been shattered. Link slung the door open and dashed inside. After clearing one last gap with his Deku Leaf, the blonde charged in through the door leading to the chamber where Medli was being held.

"Medli!"

Link called out into the chamber with desperation screaming in his voice. This room had little destruction, but he couldn't see his friend anywhere.

As if from the heavens, Link heard a weak voice. "Hey…Link…up here…!"

He searched frantically for the voice, and finally found it from the right side of the room. It seemed to be coming from behind a giant stone that had fallen from the ceiling. Wasting no time, Link scurried over to where he heard the voice the clearest and called out again. "Medli!"

Using the power bracelets that he received from within Fire Mountain, Link heaved the great stone slab and hurled it at the opposing wall. It created a block in front of the exit, but Link knew that the light emitting from the triforce in the center of the chamber would teleport him out instantly.

Crumpled from under the stone was Medli, clutching her harp protectively.

"Link, I'm so glad you're back!" Medli's voice was raspy and weak. Link knelt down next to her and propped her head up on his arm.

"Medli, what on earth happened here?!" Link's expressive face was a picture of worry and confusion. Medli coughed and dropped her harp on the floor, her amber eyes looking dull.

"The temple was…attacked," she finally got out. Link propped the Rito up more, so she was sitting up. "I think…it was Gannon…but I can't be sure…"

Link's mouth fell agape. "Gannon?!"

Medli nodded, a grim expression on her dirty face. "Yes, Gannon…he was…after me, he wanted…to kill me…like Laruto…but I didn't let him…I heard him…coming so I hid behind…the rock protruding from the wall. But…another stone had fallen nearly on top of me…I was trapped…"

"Oh, Medli! Medli, I'm so sorry I wasn't here! I could've protected you!" Link could feel tears clinging to his eyes. "How long were you trapped here?!"

A smile on her face, Medli shook her head. "Don't be sorry Link…it's not your fault," she soothed as best she could. "I've only been down here…about a day…don't worry, you came just in time…"

Link narrowed his eyes and grabbed his friend's Lylat, strapping it onto his back. Then he hoisted Medli into his arms. "Listen, I'm going to get you help right away, alright?" he said as calmly as he could. "Then we're going to get revenge on Gannon for this."

Medli sighed then closed her eyes. "Alright…are we going back to Dragon Roost…?"

The wide-eyed boy contemplated this for a moment. "No…not yet. They shouldn't see you like this." He stood up, making his way for the sparkling light emanating in the center of the triforce on the floor. "We're going to my island, Outset. My friends and family can take care of you."

"Oh…that sounds great." Medli rested her head on Link's chest, taking her ponytail out. "Tell me when we get there…OK…?" With that, she fell asleep.

Link smiled slightly and took one final step into the light before being teleported to the world above.

***

"King…we have to hurry."

The King of Red Lions studied Link as he carefully laid Medli on his shoulder and took his Wind Waker out of his pocket. "Normally I would just sail, but Medli isn't doing so great…" Link attempted to explain himself as he conducted the Ballad of the Gales once again to instantly warp to Outset Island.

"Link…do you know who attacked this island?" the boat asked as a cyclone appeared to pick him up. Link frowned and nodded, looking up at King's face with his steady black gaze.

"Yeah…it was Gannon."

"I knew it," King spat, pausing in his speech as the cyclone warped them to Link's island. The boy hoisted the sail and held onto his green hat as the boat started to move. "Gannon has attempted to destroy the Sages once again, as he did many years ago. This is why we have to hurry…if we don't defeat him soon, he's going to go after Makar as well…"

Link picked Medli up again in his arms as King reached the shore of Outset. "Well, whatever the case," he called back, "it's too dangerous to take her with us. The Master Sword seems to have retained its power, so I'm guessing that she doesn't need to play her harp anymore. I'm going to take Medli to my Grandma's house…hopefully Aryll will be there too."

King nodded. "Alright, sounds fair enough."

As Link turned to run off, his ship called to him again. "Oh, and Link…"

"Yes?"

"I don't want to rush you, but…Gannon can reach Medli at Outset too."

Link held King's steady wooden gaze for a moment before nodding, muttering a "Yeah," and dashing off towards his small cottage.


End file.
